MAC address Vs IP address – Demystifying Your Network Identity

Ever wondered how what you send out online is received by your intended recipients? Stay around this MAC address Vs IP address review to find out more!

Now that working from home is the new norm, wouldn’t it be catastrophic if your newest edge-cutting concept landed in a competitor’s inbox? Thank goodness that apart from hacking – a kind of online breaking and entering really, there is hardly inadvertent delivery to the wrong address. How does that work?

The answer is in the MAC and IP addresses! They are both automatically assignedand identify devices on a network – but at different levels.Allow us to add some depth to this in the MAC address Vs IP address comparison below:

What are the Differences Betweena MAC address and an IP address?

MAC address Vs IP address – How Do They Compare?

The MAC (Media Access Control) address is like a serial number assigned, by the manufacturer, to every network adapter. It directs data from one device to another, as data travels on a network. It is comparable to your name and mailbox. The IP (Internet Protocol) address on the other hand, is assigned to every device on a network and enables the device to be located on the network – comparable to your postal address. In networking, both the MAC and the IP addresses are important, yet their purposes are different and the ways in which they are visible also differ. Let us see how:

Address Provider and Format

The MAC address is provided by the network card’s manufacturer and takes the form of 6 sets of 2 digits or letters A to F, separated by colons or hyphens.The IP address on the other hand is provided by your internet service provider (ISP) and takes different formats depending on whether it is an IPv4 or IPv6 device.

It is normal to have many devices like computers, smartphones and game consoles connected to your router via Wi-Fi or Ethernet. When these devices connect to the internet, online services like websites can only communicate with them using the device’s public IP address, provided by the ISP. The public IP address is actually assigned to the router, not individual device. In turn, the router assigns private IP addresses (unseen by the internet) to each device, forming a local network.

IP addresses are of 2 types:

• The IPv4 which has a format is 4 sets of numbers between 0 and 255 by separated by periods (e.g. 54.221.192.241).
• The IPv6 which takes the format of 8 sets of 4-character strings separated by colons e.g. 0:0:0:0:0:ffff:36dd:c0f1

The world is now migrating to the IPv6 because the IPv4 is almost exhausted.

When each device in a local network needs to communicate to the outside world, the MAC addressis used, since it is a unique identifier, assigned at manufacture and hardcoded into the firmware. It takes the format of a 12-digit string, having digits from 0 to 9 or letters A to F. For ease of reading, the string is divided into chunks separated by colons, hyphens or periods, e.g. 00:00:9d:0a:65:18.

Mac addresses alsoincorporate the manufacturer’s data/code at the start of the address, known as organizationally unique identifiers (OUI). Dell’s code for example is DELL:00-14-22. Therefore, whereas the prefix of the address (first 6 digits) represents the manufacturer, the address bears no information about the network connecting the device.

Permanence

Periodically, IP addresses change. MAC addresses however remain the same, irrespective of the network connecting the device.

IP addresses are assigned as devices connect and are recycled when the devices disconnect. Even with the same router, a device can have a different IP address when connecting at different times. IP addresses can therefore not be accounted for by a particular device.

Conversely, a MAC address remains the same for any device even when the device connects to different networks.

MAC address Vs IP address – A Comparison Overview

The MAC address

Data across the internet is transmitted in data packet. The MAC address is an important part of internet communication. It makes it possible for data packets to be delivered to the right device. And not just that, it makes many benefits possible in internet connectivity. Let’s walk through them:

Since MAC addresses never change, they are a useful tool for pinpointing data senders/recipients on a network. They give network administrators an invaluable diagnostic tool. Each device having a unique MAC address makes it possible to block unwanted devices access to the internet. This is referred to as the MAC filtering feature and is common on modern routers. It is handy for guest/parental control, or locking out a hacker’s machine.

Being a permanent unique identifier, the MAC address can be used in very special circumstances to in tracking physical location. It can’t however be tracked by websites, since it is not propagated from subnets.

Finally, thanks to the MAC address, Ethernet adapters can receive communication from anywhere on the same network to wake up a device, even if it was shut down.

Pros

• Diagnostic tool for troubleshooting
• Pinpointing data sender/recipient on a network
• Filtering unwanted devices from communicating on network
• Track location
• Wake-on-LAN trigger

Cons

• Easy to change (spoof) a MAC address

The IP address

Every device on the internet has an IP assigned to it so it can be located on the network. The address has both network identification and device identification data.IP addresses are important in moving data from one network to another, making the world a global village.

Unfortunately, it is prone to abuse. When a device chooses to funnel its activities through another device connected the ISP, the web will see the activity as coming from the device connected on the ISP. This is how hackers manage to hide behind proxies.

Another security risk is that IP addresses can be easily traced.

Pros

• Has made the world a global village

Cons

• Easy to hide behind another IP address
• Easily traced
• IP conflicts

Conclusion

Both IP addresses and MAC addresses identify network devices but at different levels. Whereas the IP address moves data from one network to another, the MAC address supplies the data to the correct device on a network. We end this MAC address Vs IP address discussion by reiterating that any device on the internet needsand has both addresses. This is because, though independent, the 2 addresses work together, in different layers, to enable devicesto communicate through the internet.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: Can a MAC address be changed?

Ans: Yes, through a process called randomization, to prevent third parties to track devices through the MAC address.

Q2: What is the use of a MAC address and an IP address?

Ans: While the IP address uses the TCP/IP protocol to transport data from one network to another, the MAC address delivers the data to the correct device on a network.